Abraham's Daughter
by angel14108
Summary: A girl and her brother are running for their lives...until they are ambushed and run into three Rangers. Based on the song "Abraham's Daughter" by Arcade Fire. Rated T for abuse, near-death scenes, and language.
1. Chapter 1 - Abraham's Daughter

**A/N: This is based off the song "Abraham's Daughter" by Arcade Fire. I realize that this is a Hunger Games song, but when I imagined the song, I imagined it as more of a **_**Ranger's Apprentice**_** thing. None of the actual characters are in this fanfic, but the world remains the same. One-shot. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I have not the genius of John Flanagan. **

I hid behind a bush as I watched my father take my brother's hand. Of course, I didn't really think of my father as Father or Dad – no, I just thought of him as Abraham, his given name. Despite the fact that his blood ran through my veins, we were really no more than acquaintances in terms of our relationship. I didn't like anything about him and from what I could tell, he didn't like anything about me. He didn't like anything about Isaac, my brother, either. But he hated Isaac more than he hated me because Isaac was different. He wasn't terribly different. One foot was just a little smaller than the other. Abraham had hoped that he would grow out of it, that the smaller foot would grow or the larger foot would stop doing so. But it never happened. Isaac's left foot remained smaller than his right, and as a result, he walked with an odd gait. He'd learned quickly how to hide it and after fourteen years, it was hard for anyone who didn't know him to see the slight limp.

But Abraham still knew about it. And he hated Isaac for it. He grew angrier with Isaac every day, constantly berating him for his disability. I tried to defend him as often as I could, but it usually ended up with me getting the shit beat out of me. But at least it gave Isaac enough time to run and hide and got Abraham to forget about why he was angry in the first place. Still though…getting the shit beat out of me hurts. A lot.

Eventually, Abraham had gone to Sir Brandon, one of the more…notable…knights of our puny little fief. Most people, including the baron, though that Brandon was an angel. Abraham had told Sir Brandon of his 'predicament' with Isaac, asking if it was possible for him to get rid of Isaac in some way. Brandon had said he would think about it, then dismissed Abraham. I had watched from a tree that day and made sure to keep a close eye on Abraham after that. I had decided not to tell Isaac about it, not wanting to worry him, deciding that I could handle it myself.

Apparently, Brandon had finally found a solution to Isaac's problem.

I clutched at my bow as Abraham led Isaac to a lonesome hill quite a long way away from the nearest field. Brandon was waiting at the top, dressed in full knight garb. I didn't even dare to breathe, lest any of the three men heard me. After what seemed like hours, Abraham and Isaac reached the top of the hill. Abraham said something to Isaac and my brother went down on his knees.

_Isaac, you idiot, don't get on your knees in front of them!_ I thought. But my brother couldn't hear me.

Abraham moved to stand behind Isaac and grabbed his arms, pulling them up behind his back. Isaac began to struggle but Abraham twisted his arms up farther and Isaac stopped struggling, the awkward angle making it painful for him to do so. My breath caught as Brandon drew his sword and leaned forward to whisper something in my brother's ear. Isaac's shoulders were shaking and since I was behind him, I couldn't tell what was causing the tremors, but I figured he was either crying or his nerves and muscles were going haywire because of the pain. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was probably some strange combination of both.

Just as Brandon raised his sword, I shot straight up. "NO!" I shouted. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

All three men turned to look at me. Brandon looked extremely confused and asked, "Who are you? What's your name?"

"I don't have one," I responded.

"What? How?"

"My father never gave me one." I looked pointedly at Abraham and he shot me a glare that, if looks could kill, would have sent me into the sixth life. I sneered at him.

It was true: Abraham had never named me. My mother (I didn't know her name) had died giving birth to me and so he had been left to name me. But after the 'disaster' with Isaac, Abraham had decided not to name me in case something turned out to be horribly wrong with me too. Then he wouldn't feel so compelled to keep me around like he had with Isaac.

The name Isaac was the only reason my brother was still alive.

"Take him," Abraham growled. Now that they were all facing me, it was much easier to hear what they had to say. Isaac was shoved at Brandon, who used one arm to hold my brother across his chest, the other to put his sword blade at Isaac's neck. Abraham rushed at me, pulling out a knife. "You should have stayed hidden, girl," he said. "Now I'm going to kill you too." I pulled an arrow out of my quiver and nocked it to my bow. "How dare you defy me?!" he shrieked. "You should just let Isaac go. He's no use to the world anyway." In my rage, I barely managed to control where my arrow went. Somehow, I managed to get it to fly just past Abraham's ear as I had planned. He flinched and I sent another one at Brandon, same place, taking care not to hit my brother. In his shock and fear, Brandon released Isaac and I screamed at him:

"Isaac, come here!" He started to run toward me and Abraham started to go after him. I sent another arrow flying straight in front of his nose, bringing him to a halt. Coincidentally, the arrow stuck into the hill right in front of Brandon's foot, causing him to stop as well. Isaac reached me and I grabbed his arm, pulling him deep into the forest, throwing glances over my shoulder. Behind us, we could hear Abraham screaming bloody murder, saying he would find us no matter where we went and that when he did, we would be sorry. I resolutely ignored him and told Isaac to do the same.

We only stopped momentarily at the house so I could grab a few more weapons and some supplies. I didn't make my brother carry a pack; after all, it was already hard enough for him to walk long distances with his uneven feet and despite the fact that he would never admit it, I knew it could get rather painful at times. So I simply stuffed one bag full of supplies, slung it on my back over my quiver, and dashed out of the house, pulling Isaac along with me. We ran for most of the day and when night fell, I barely managed to get a fire going and settle Isaac down before I collapsed on the ground, exhausted.

**A/N: So…yeah. My first **_**Ranger's Apprentice**_** fanfic. Let me know what you think, even if it's to say it was horrible. Let me know, too, if you want me to continue it. I meant this to be a one-shot, but I have some ideas for how it could continue. **


	2. Chapter 2 - Found

**A/N: Due to popular demand (of about half a dozen people), I am continuing this story. Hopefully more people will read it and I can get more followers. Thanks so much to all who reviewed; five reviews on the first chapter isn't half-bad for me and I really appreciate all the comments. There are actual Rangers featured in this chapter and they (as well as some other original characters) shall be featured in the rest of the story. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I only wish I was John Flanagan, among many other talented authors. **

I really couldn't tell you how long we were on the move. I do know that after that first day, Isaac and I stopped running so much and took things at a more leisurely pace, figuring that Abraham would have a harder time finding us given how much ground we'd already covered. Nonetheless, I kept my eyes and ears peeled for any sign of intimidating movement, and I'm pretty sure Isaac did too. But there was none. Ever. I get the feeling Abraham never even bothered looking for us. Either he figured we were dead or he didn't care. If you ask me, it was most likely the latter. After all, we were really just burdens before, right? Hadn't he told us that countless times?

Another reason not to run anymore: Isaac's foot swells really quickly while running. After a full day of walking, it usually has begun to swell, but I try to take frequent enough breaks to keep it down as much as possible. Now, we only run when we're being chased by something, namely bandits, angry wild animals, and wargals running rampant. Even though Morgarath had long since been defeated with a good deal of help from various Rangers in the kingdom, many of the Wargals still retained their warlike tendencies and liked to ambush anyone who strayed into their territory. Or at least, that's what the rumors said. A bit of an unfortunate obstacle for us, but we've mastered our defense technique: Isaac hides behind a bush or in a tree while I kill the Wargals.

I suppose that if anyone knew about us, they would wonder why I, the younger sister, am taking care of my older brother. The answer is simple: he can't do it himself. Abraham never taught him to cook (after our mother died, he and Abraham lived on food from taverns and generous souls until I was old enough to cook without burning the house down) nor how to treat the swelling of his foot. He never learned to hunt or how to gather non-toxic plants. He quite literally cannot survive in the wild. But me? I've been providing for the family for as long as I can remember. As soon as I could I picked up a mini bow and started hunting squirrels and birds, maybe the occasional rabbit. Several people from around the fief were willing to help me in my education, knowing that if they did, they wouldn't have to provide for ungrateful Abraham Wiltonworth in order to preserve his son's life.

I never realized I'd need those skills to fend for Isaac and myself in the wilderness.

I mean, sure, I thought about running away a lot. It tends to happen when you get the shit beat out of you on a regular basis. But I knew I couldn't convince Isaac and that I couldn't drag him with me either. Of course, when he was nearly killed, it made it pretty easy to convince him it was a good idea to leave.

Isaac and I had settled down in small clearing in the forest to rest for a minute and eat some lunch. The meal was a simple affair – just some mushrooms and berries I'd found with some jerky I'd made from a deer I'd shot a while back. It was the only time we ever stopped for longer than a few minutes or hours to rest or sleep respectively: whenever I'd made a big enough kill to constitute the making of jerky.

We nibbled at the food in silence. There isn't much to talk about when you spend every moment with each other except to piss or shit in a bush since you already know exactly what you're companion has been doing all day long.

"Does your foot hurt at all?" I asked as I finished my last berry. Isaac popped the rest of his fruit into his mouth and swallowed before responding:

"No, not yet. Give it a few hours though and I might have a different response." I snickered a little. He said that practically every time and I knew he would be able to last until nightfall at least. Walking didn't cause him too much trouble unless we were going through rough terrain which wasn't a huge fear in the forest. It was running that proved a problem.

Speaking of running…

Behind me, I heard a twig snap. I turned my head a little so my ear was closer to the sound and signaled for Isaac to be as quiet as possible while still looking like neither of us had noticed anything. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him turn his head up and stare intently at the sky as though looking for a bird. It was his usual ploy, and it seemed to work pretty well.

Another twig snapped. I closed my eyes allowing my brain to concentrate on the sounds my ears could hear rather than the pictures my eyes could see. I strained my ears as much as possible, trying to figure out if the snapping twigs were just from a deer or something more deadly.

There. Heavy breathing. Something more deadly then. I shot to my feet and so did Isaac. I drew an arrow and nocked it to my bow, aiming it into the trees. Isaac stood behind me, most likely perched on the balls of his feet, ready to dash into a bush or leap into a tree at any signal from me. But since I had no idea whether the threat was alone or not, I didn't want to send him away from me in case the attempted ambusher had friends.

I raked my eyes through the trees trying to find the source of the snapping twigs. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and I figured Isaac could probably hear it too. I closed my eyes, letting my ears take over the search, and took several deep breaths, forcing my heartbeat to slow. I need to concentrate, not have a panic attack. I'd always managed to protect both Isaac and myself. Nothing about that was going to change now. Not on my watch.

I opened my eyes again and stared at one place in the trees, waiting now for movement. Suddenly, I realized there was a great deal of just that throughout the trees. Several large forms were slowly lumbering toward us, clearly attempting to make as little noise as possible. Cautiously, I turned around and looked past Isaac, searching again for movement.

"Shit," I muttered. We were completely surrounded. Quickly, I began to think of ways out of the situation, keeping my bow drawn just in case any of them decided to make a mad dash at us.

My first thought was that we climb trees and travel through the branches to get out. But long ago Isaac and I had tried that to escape and we'd discovered that his foot couldn't take it for long enough to get enough distance to really consider it safe enough to be in the clear. Not that one then.

I thought about luring them away and telling Isaac to run, then doubling back and tracking him, but then I decided that they would find him first and then I wouldn't have a brother to track at all. Not that one then.

Which left me with the last option I could think of as they reached the treeline: shoot a hole in the ring and run.

I didn't hesitate; I'd long since learned not to. I sent one arrow flying into the trees. I heard a satisfactory _thump_ and knew one of them had dropped to the ground. Thankfully, the shapes made no attempts to close the gap and I grabbed Isaac's hand, dashing toward the gap. I knew we wouldn't be able to keep up the pace for long with Isaac's foot, but I was more concerned about getting away from the larger group first and foremost.

Then we ran into another obstacle. Quite literally. I'd turned my head to glance at Isaac and when I'd turned back around, I'd discovered there was something right in front of me. I had too much momentum to stop and we'd run straight into it. I looked up and saw a tall, broad-shouldered man above me. He was dressed in all black and had a mask on. Bandit. Instinctively, my legs shot out and sent him crashing to the ground. Behind me, Isaac had already gotten to his feet and we were able to shoot off into the trees once again. I shoved Isaac ahead of me, telling him to keep running as I looked behind us to find more assailants. I saw several dark shapes moving toward us and realized that the Wargals and the bandits were working together to kill us. But why?

I decided I didn't care and shot after my brother. Occasionally, I threw glances over my shoulder to make sure they didn't get too close. When they did, I sent an arrow into the offending assailant and continued on my way. I had long since learned how to shoot something to injure rather than kill. I was uncomfortable killing things that weren't food.

It didn't take long for me to notice that Isaac was tiring. His breathing had become shallower and he had a slight limp to his gait as he ran through the trees. I glanced behind us once again and saw that the Wargals and the bandits were too close for us to stop just yet. I looked forward again and attempted to gauge how tired Isaac was and how much longer he could go on. But something else caught my attention.

The trees were thinning. We'd finally found the treeline.

I urged Isaac onward and glanced back once again. When he realized how close we were to the edge of the forest, he seemed to find new energy and increased his pace. I kept up with him easily, constantly sending looks over my shoulder trying to protect our backs.

It only took us a couple minutes to reach the treeline and we burst into a vast open area. I could see fields not too far in the distance and a cabin a little ways to our left. In front of us in the distance was a huge, three-sided castle with a reddish hue. So we were in Redmont Fief. Wow we'd gone far. I hadn't known that forest stretched that far.

Behind us, I could hear the sounds of rapidly approaching, pounding footsteps. I pushed Isaac forward a little, egging him on. He stumbled forward and I knew it wasn't because I'd shoved him; I'd barely touched him.

"Go on, I'll catch up with you," I said. "Get as far away as you can and whatever you do, don't look back." Isaac nodded and continued forward. I turned around and raised my bow, taking a few more steps back from the treeline so I had better sighting.

A Wargal burst out of the trees. My arrow instantly shot away and hit him square in the forehead. He dropped to the ground face-first, breaking my arrow. I felt a fleeting feeling of regret, but it quickly faded as several more Wargals and a couple of bandits appeared out of the treeline. I sent a dozen arrows off in rapid succession, hitting the Wargals with kill-shots and the bandits with wounds bad enough to stop them in their tracks. For all I knew, they were wanted by the kingdom for various crimes, in which case I'd rather have them tried than simply kill them, satisfying as that may be.

A second line of assailants appeared and I sent another set of arrows flying away in rapid succession. I got about halfway down the line, then realized my hands were grasping at empty air. Cursing, I threw my bow to one side and drew my sword. My blades were the only things of use to me now.

A Wargal reached me first. I raised my sword and brought a blow raining down toward the Wargal's face. He raised his sword and blocked the cut. My sword practically bounced off his and flew around to his side. My blade crashed into his side. A sickening crunch rang out and the Wargal dropped to the ground. A bandit quickly took his place. I parried his blow and stepped into him, using the hilt of my sword to hit a pressure point on his neck, knocking him out cold. He would wake up several hours later with a nasty ache in his neck, hopefully in a cell. I turned to the next Wargal and allowed my instincts to take over, parrying blows and delivering my own. But as more and more attackers came down upon me, I began giving ground, frantically parrying and attempting to get in as many blows as I could, which wasn't many at all. I drew the dagger I kept at my waist, hoping the second blade would give me some assistance. It did for a little while and I managed to get rid of three of my assailants, but there were simply too many. Blows started getting through my defenses, giving me scratches and nicks throughout my body. Some attacks turned into gashes on my arms. A deep cut on my thigh made me cry out in momentary pain. I stumbled and one of the bandits saw his chance, dashing in and delivering a deep blow to my stomach. I screamed as I felt the knife pierce one of my ribs. He locked eyes with me and I saw a malicious gleam as I felt him tighten his hold on the hilt. I quickly dropped my own blades in my haste and terror as he began to drive the blade home heading straight for my heart. My hands reached his as he ripped through a second rib and I clenched hard on a pressure point in his arm. He cried out and released the blade. I pulled it out of my stomach and used my foot to flick my sword up into my hand. The bandit who had stabbed me faded into the mass of a dozen or so assailants in front of me. I glanced down at my stomach and watched for a moment as my lifeblood seeped out of the wound. I sighed, realizing that I had lied to Isaac for the first time in my life.

I'd never catch up to him. I'd never see him again.

I looked back up and realized my vision was red around the edges with my rage. These attackers, these creatures, these _monsters_ were going to take me away from my brother. I wasn't ready for that. Not yet. We'd finally made it out of the forest.

I wasn't going to leave him yet. Not now. Not after the forest.

Screaming out a battle cry, I surged forward, raining blows down on my attackers. I no longer cared about making the distinction between killing Wargals and knocking out bandits. I just wanted the fight to be over no matter who I had to kill. But they quickly began fighting back and I soon found myself giving ground once more. My second blade no longer gave me any advantage. More and more blows rained down on my arms and legs, some even falling on my stomach. One came to my face and I jerked backward, stumbling and nearly losing my balance. More blows fell and I began to lose hope. My rage had not helped me win this fight. Nothing would. No savior was coming to help me.

I wasn't going to survive this fight.

But I wasn't going to just give up either. I raised my blades once more in a defensive stance and began parrying again and again and again, just trying to hold out as much as I could.

Suddenly, one of my assailants collapsed, an arrow sticking out of his head. Three more bandits dropped, as did two Wargals. All eyes whipped around to where the arrows had come from and our gazes landed on three relatively short men wrapped in cloaks. Their forms seemed to shift in the background of the forest and they had huge longbows knocked and ready to fire. Behind them stood Isaac, favoring his foot.

Rangers. My brother had managed for find Rangers.

Behind me, I heard a distinctive whistling sound and instinctively I ducked. A sword blade whistled over my head and I turned around, raising my own sword and delivering a killing blow to the bandit's neck. Two Wargals advanced on me while the rest of the attackers rushed the Rangers. Within a matter of moments, the entire line was dead, arrows protruding from their chests. I quickly countered the blows of the two Wargals and allowed them to deliver killing blows to each other. It was the only convenient thing about fighting groups of Wargals: you could usually let them kill themselves, they were so stupid.

I turned around to face the four men and immediately found myself dropping my weapons to catch Isaac. He threw his arms around my neck and hugged me so tight it hurt. "Klutz," I muttered into his hair. Even though he was several years older than me, we were about the same height.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, we both looked up. The three Rangers were approaching us. They'd thrown their cowls back revealing their faces. The one on the right was short and slim with speckled black and gray hair and beard that looked as though they had been cut with a knife. His eyes were dark and firm and his mouth was set in a straight line. The one in the middle was slightly shorter than average brown eyes and curly brown hair. He was lean and his mouth was curved upward slightly in a small, gentle smile. The one on the right was tall and quite handsome with dark hair and dark eyes that glinted with humor. One corner of his mouth was twisted up into a wry smile as though he was laughing internally at something.

"Are you alright?" asked the Ranger in the middle. I nodded. The Ranger on the left snorted.

"Right," he muttered. "You're bleeding to death, but apparently you're just fine." I glared at him.

"I've suffered worse, thank you very much, and survived it, so you can just keep that trap of yours shut," I sneered. He looked at me with one eyebrow raised and I returned the gesture, daring him to make another snide comment. Eventually, the expression faded and he surveyed the battle site.

"Here," said the Ranger on the right. He slung his bow over his shoulder and strode forward. I instinctively stepped back, dragging Isaac with me. He stopped dead in his tracks. "I won't hurt you," he promised. "I just want to help." I looked at him doubtfully. "My name is Gilan and this is Halt" – he gestured to the grim Ranger – "and Will Treaty" – he gestured to the other man, who smiled again. "Halt and Will are stationed here at Redmont and I'm stationed in the fief next door, Langley. Just got transferred, actually." I looked him up and down once again, then gave a short nod and slung my pack down from my shoulder. I opened it and dug through its contents, sifting through the food, blankets, and sewing kit before I found the box I had filled with herbs and other medical supplies. Then I dropped to the ground and set the box in front of me, pulling various compartments open and pulling out stitching supplies and various herbs, as well as a large roll of bandages. Once I knocked them out or killed them, I stole supplies from the bandits and Wargals, namely medical supplies and flint, as well as the occasional blanket or shirt.

I rolled my shirt up just enough to expose the wound and raised an eyebrow at it. It looked pretty nasty. Blood was still flowing and my broken bones were visible as well as their various fragments. I glanced up and saw that Isaac had turned pale and slightly green. "Why don't you search them for anything valuable?" I suggested gently. He nodded and slowly rose, limping away to the bandit farthest away from me and my grotesque stomach wound. I frowned slightly at his limp, then decided that if his foot had been paining him too much, he would have mentioned it. I turned back to my wound and pulled a pair of tweezers out of my box. Cautiously, I began picking out the fragments of my ribs and throwing them to the ground at my sound. A shadow fell across me and I looked up at Gilan, one eyebrow raised.

"Why don't you let me do that?" he asked gently.

"Well, given the fact that you're blocking all the light from hitting it, you'd probably kill me before you helped me," I pointed out. He moved to the side, still crouching, and I went back to my work. A smooth, strong hand closed over my own and I looked into those dark brown eyes of his.

"I'm serious," he said. "Let me help you." Much to my chagrin, I found my hand loosening on the tweezers and he gently took them from me. He turned his attention to my wound and I found that his hands were much more skilled and precise than mine. It didn't hurt as much when he did it, though I have to say, it still hurt quite a bit. But I steeled myself as I always had and let him finish. He reached for the herbs and held them out. "Should I chew them? Or do you have a mortar and pestel?" I looked at him with an eyebrow raised once again.

"Does it look like a carry a mortar and pestle?" I asked.

He shrugged. "You never know." He stuck the herbs in his mouth, grimaced at the taste, and chewed until they were made into a satisfactory pulp. Then he carefully applied them to the wound, making sure he covered the entirety of the gaping hole in my stomach. Then he bandaged it.

Never before had any of my wounds felt so good after I treated them. Clearly this Ranger knew his healing techniques.

I gave him a small smile. "Thanks," I muttered. I stored my supplies and looked back up to find that Will was standing with Isaac, talking with him. I frowned, wondering what they were talking about. Halt was apparently surveying the trees for any more bandits and Wargals, though it didn't appear he had found any as of yet.

"Isaac!" I called. His gaze shot up to me and I pulled out a few more herbs from my stash. "Come here." He limped over to me and settled down in front of me, pulling off his shoe and sock. His foot was red and swollen. I handed him a few leaves of herbs and some poppy seeds. He diligently took them and ate them while I chewed up a few more herbs and applied them to his foot. He sighed in content as I bandaged it, the herbs already working their magic. He put his own sock and shoe back on and I replaced the box in my bag. I clambered to my feet and when I looked up again, all three Rangers were standing in front of me and Isaac.

"Thank you for your help," I said. "You saved my life."

Will smiled at me. "You fought pretty well yourself." I shrugged.

"Not one of my better days," I said. "Anyway, we'll just be on our way."

"Where will you go?" Halt asked gruffly.

I shrugged. "I don't really know. Probably an inn. We'll have to see if they have room for us in the stables. We'll probably have to find work somewhere if we want to settle anywhere, and I don't know if we'll be able to find it here."

"So you need work to settle?" Gilan clarified. I nodded.

"I can keep us fed and healthy, but I can't keep a roof over our heads without money and that's got to come from somewhere besides thin air," I pointed out. Will and Gilan smiled; Halt snorted.

"Isn't that the truth," he said. I gave him a wry smile.

"Thanks again," I said. Then we turned to leave.

"Wait!"

We turned back around and saw that Will had his hand out. He laid it on my shoulder and I flinched slightly. I hadn't gotten a chance to bandage the rest of my wounds properly, just the biggest, life-threatening one.

"You're still beat up pretty bad," he pointed out. "Why don't you come back to the cabin with me? My wife Alyss can fix you up and you can stay there until you find work and a place to stay."

I snorted. "Right. You'd do that?" He nodded.

"Why not?"

"I was actually just going to ask you why," I pointed out. "Why would you take in two forest-beaten kids who you don't even know? Why would you help us? And why should we trust you?"

"Well, we are king's Rangers," Gilan pointed out. "And he is Will Treaty. It's not likely he's going to hurt you."

"Unless you're an enemy of the kingdom," Halt interjected. "Then he'll probably kill you." I snickered. Halt's sarcastic humor was the best I'd heard in a while.

"And the Baron just ran out of space in the ward," Will continued, "so I'm the next-best option for a home. I'm assuming you don't have a family to go to?"

I snorted again. "We do. We're just sure as hell not going back." Will nodded.

"All right," he said. "I won't ask for details, although if you'd give them to me, it would be much appreciated. Now come on. Alyss will have dinner ready soon; it's her turn to cook. And while we're waiting, we can patch you up."

I frowned. I still wasn't sure I could trust them. After all, anyone could be a traitor, right? Even the most trusted officials could turn bad. And I'd always had problems trusting people I was supposed to be able to confide in. My own father hadn't exactly turned out peachy, had he?

But it would be the first night with a roof over our heads and a mattress beneath us. How could I turn that down when I had Isaac with me?

"All right," I muttered. "But if you make so much as one move to hurt me or Isaac, I'll gut you like a deer. And I don't care if I'm hanged for it later."

"You know you could be jailed for three months for threatening a Ranger, right?" Halt asked.

I nodded. "I know. Are you going to arrest me now?"

He snorted. "No. You're not worth the time."

I gave him a wry smile. "Thanks."

Will and Gilan laughed as Halt let out a piercing whistle. Gilan and Will copied him soon after and three horses came into view. They weren't so much horses as they were shaggy ponies, although the one that walked up to Gilan was a good two or three hands taller than the ones that approached Will and Halt. The muttered quick words into their horses' ears and each horse nickered in response. Gilan laughed a little, Halt glared at his horse, and Will cuffed his over the ear.

"Don't be rude, Tug," he said. He turned back to us. "Which one of you wants to get on top of this rascal with me?" Isaac moved to step forward but I held him back.

"I thought Ranger horses threw off anyone that didn't give them their password or whatever first," I pointed out. All three raised eyebrows at me.

"How did you know that?" Halt asked. I shrugged.

"I tried getting on Eric's horse once," I replied. "I ended up getting bucked into a tree." This time all three laughed. "Then he explained to me that no one but him and anyone else who had the passcode could ride him."

"You came from Argate Fief?" Will asked. I nodded. "Well, don't worry about getting bucked into a tree again. If we're riding too, the horses won't buck us off. Isn't that right, Tug?" The horse nickered and he cuffed his ear again. "Just because you threw me off half a dozen times the first time I tried to ride you doesn't mean you can do it again now just because you have a new rider." The horse nickered again and I exchanged glances with Isaac as Will said, "I don't care if they're inexperienced, you just have to deal with it." Tug nickered again and Will rolled his eyes. "I'll never get the last word with this horse." Tug whinnied again and Will just shot him a glare. "Isaac, you want to ride with me?" Isaac nodded and this time I let him go. Gilan held his hand out to me and I accepted it, easily mounting his horse. He quickly followed behind me before the mare could throw me.

"Her name is Blaze," he told me. "And Halt's horse is named Abelard." I nodded. Then all three horses wheeled and set off at an easy lope toward the cabin in the distance.

**A/N: Review please! **


End file.
